Improvement in ore-concentrators



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES M. THOMPSON, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN ORE-CONCENTRATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 155,346, dated September 22, 1574 application filed December 13, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMEs M. THOMPSON, of San Francisco city and county, State of California, have invented an Improved Concentrator and I do hereby declare the following description and accompanying drawings are sufficient to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it most nearly appertains to make and use my said invention or improvement without further invention or experiment.

My invention relates to that class of concentrators for separating substances of different specific gravities, in which a pan or other shallow vessel is given a compound motion, accompanied by a jar or concussion, by which the substances to be separated are kept in motion and concentrated.

My improvements relate, first, to an improved cam for giving the pan a compound motion; secondly, to an arrangement for adjusting the hangings of the pan thirdly, to an adjustable partition for keeping the separating substances apart and lastly, to an arrangement for discharging the valuable or heavier substance which is separated from the lighter and worthless portion.

In order to more fully describe my invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification,

in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of my machine. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section. Fig. 3

is an end view. Fig. 4 is a detached view of the Wheel 0. Fig. 5 is a plan.

A represents a pan or other shallow vessel, one end of which is suspended from a frame, B, by links 0 0, while its opposite is supported by a roller moving on a track on its under side. A serpentine cam, D, at the rear of the pan, serves to give to it the back-andforth motion, the side motion, and the concussion. An arm, E, which extends backward from the rear of the pan, has two end extensions, f, which embrace the cam upon opposite sides, as shown, while the face of the cam bears between them.

Heretofore the motion and concussion have been imparted to the pan by an arm moving in a cam-groove; but this arrangement necessitates friction, which I avoid by using the twisted cam, as I provide friction-rollers on the extensions f, which bear against the sides of the cam, and another roller, g, between them, against which the edge of the cam bears, thus providing friction-rollers at every point of contact, and lessening the power required to run the machine.

A combined clip and link holder, h, is secured upon each end of the timber B of the supporting-frame. The clips are adjustable toward or from each other, and the link-holders are each provided with a slot, din which the upper ends of the pan-suspending links 0 c are secured.

By adjusting the clips, either one or both, and by shifting the position of the links in the link-holder, a variety of swinging motions, as well as changes in the direction of the concussion, can be imparted to the pan, so as to give the best effect with difl'erent qualities of ore or other substances which are being concentrated.

Near the rear end of the pan A, and just in rear of the water-pipej, I secure a partition, K, which extends entirely across the pan. This partition only extends partially down to the bottom of the pan, thus leaving a space below it. A sliding plate, Z, is arranged to move up or down against the partition, so that the width of the space can be regulated as desired.

M is the perforated pan, into which the pulverized ore and water are deposited, and by which they are distributed and fed into the pan A. This pan is provided with any desirable number of perforated horizontal partitions, m, be tween which are placed pieces of copper, iron, or other metals, or dechloridizing or deoxidizin g substances, and in contact with which the ore or pulp must flow before passing into the concentrating-pan A, and thus bringing the fine particles of gold and mercury contained in the pulp in contact with the metallic or other substance contained between the partitions of the pan M, and subjecting the floured mercury to a chemical action, which will free it of its oxide or chloride coating, and thus leaving the particles of mercury free to reunite and collect together in the bottom of the pan A.

The surfaces of a portion of these metal particles can be coated or amalgamated with mercury, to which the fine particles of gold contained in the pulp, which have escaped the previous amalgamating process, will adhere.

This pan is placed in front of the partition K, so that the sulphuret or heavy portions of the ore will be carried toward the rear of the pan by the concussion, and will pass under the partition into the rear compartment, while the debris or gangue is carried ofl over the front end of the pan. This rear compartment I will, therefore, call the sulphuret-compartment, and the front one I will call the conceutrating-compartment.

To the floor of the sulphuret-compartment I secure a transverse rib or ledge, n, midway between the partition K and rear end of the pan, which will stand an inch or two higher than the bottom, and thus serve as a gage for preserving a stated depth of sulphurets in the compartment.

In order to discharge the overplus of sulphurets as fast as they accumulate I employ a wheel, 0, which is mounted inside of an opened bottomed case in the sulphuret-compartment, and operated by a pawl, 12, and ratchet -wheel g, from the back and -forth movement of the pan. Below this wheel I arrange an inclined or curved plane, 1', which connects, at its upper end, with a trough or spout, s. The wings or blades of the wheel 0 sweep along the plane 1' as they move around, and thus carry a quantity of sulphurets up the plane and deposit them in the spout or troughs, whence they are carried away to a suitable vessel by means of a stream of water, which will be kept fiowin g through the trough and upon the wings or blades of the wheel. I also provide another discharging device, which can be used either in conjunction with the wheel or separately. This device consists of a spout or tube, t, one end of which commu-- nicates with the pan just back of the wheel, its opposite passing back and upward, as shown. A nozzle, u, which is connected with a water-pipe, 0;, is arranged to discharge water in the tube ,z under pressure, in the man-' ner of an injector, so as to draw the sulphurets up into the tube by the vacuum produced, and drive them out by the force of the water. Another plan which I shall employ is to provide one or more openings, or w, in the rear end of the pan, the size of which can be regulated by a sliding gate, 3 as desired. This slot will serve to allow the sulphurets to pass out after they have arrived to a certain level in the sulphuret-compartment. A stream of water will be kept flowin g into the sulphuret; compartment through a perforated pipe, 2, which is placed just in rear of the partition, in order to prevent the escape of water through the discharging device from creating a current toward the rear of the pan, which would interfere with the proper concentration of the particles. On the other hand, I prefer to create a slight current toward the front of the pan, as the concussion which accomplishes the separation will cause the sulphurets to move to the rear, notwithstanding the opposite movement of the water, while the slot in the rear will allow them to pass out as the concussion carries them back.

Various arrangements could be devised by which the automatic discharge of the accumulated sulphurets vwould be accomplished; but the above-named devices comprise the most practical with which I am at present familiar, my great object being to accomplish the discharge of the sulphurets by automatic action, thus avoiding the manual labor heretofore required for that purpose, and materially aiding the concentrating process by keeping the sulphurets from accumulating, and thereby hindering the passage or travel of that portion which is continually working toward the rear of the pan.

By the above improvements I greatly add to the effectiveness of this style of concentrator. Every part is rendered adjustable, so that the best effect of shaking and concussion can be obtained, as in working ores of different character it will be necessary to regulate the direction and amount of motion and concussion to the nature of the different substances to be separated.

The sulphuret-chamber and self-dischargin g apparatus will effectually separate the sulphurets from the gangue, and keep them separated, without in any manner clogging the operation of concentration.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The pan A, with its arm E, having the extensions f, with their anti-friction rollers and the intermediate friction-roller g, in combination with the serpentine or twisted cam D, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

2. The adjustable clip and link holder It, provided with the slot c, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

3. The shakingpan A, with its partition K, arranged to leave a space, either variable or fixed, between the partition and bottom of the pan, and forming two compartments in the pan, for the purpose specified.

4. The pan A, provided with a transverse ledge, n, for the purpose of regulating the height of the sulphurets in the sulphuret-chamber, substantially as described.

5. The concentrating-pan A, in combination with the lifting-wheel 0 and trough 8, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

6. The pan A, having the discharge-holes w w and sliding gate 3 in combination with the water-pipe z, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

7. The improvement in automatically discharging the sulphurets from the pan A, the same consisting in retaining a certain quantity of sulphurets in the sulphuret-chamber, so that the discharge will only commence after they have arrived at a certain level or height, substantially as described.

8. The pan A, with its distributing-pan M, said distributing-pan being provided with the perforated partitions m, and containing dechloridizing, deoxidizing and amalgamating substances, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In Witness whereof I hereunto set my hand and seal.

JAMES MONROE THOMPSON. [L S] Witnesses:

GEO. H. STRONG, O. M. RICHARDSON. 

